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1/29/2018, 3:22pm

New Coffman restaurant puts emphasis on diversity, sustainability

Meta Flavors uses student votes to decide on its menu each month.

The current installment of the new Coffman restaurant Meta Flavors, Tavolino, as seen on Monday, Jan. 29. The new restaurant's format uses student polling to decide which menu it will carry each month.

“As more and more people become vegan and vegetarian and care about that stuff, more places like this pop up, so that's always good to see,” said junior Marina Kirkeide, president of vegan student group Compassionate Action for Animals.

MSA also played a role in distributing the voting survey, said James Farnsworth, campus life committee director for MSA.

The restaurant currently occupies the space in the Coffman food court previously held by Baja Sol, which abruptly went out of business in the middle of last semester, Elrod said.

Meta Flavors was created as a temporary solution until another long-term vendor can be found, he said.

Though the University has received offers from other vendors for the space, Meta Flavors could see permanent implementation if its initial run is successful, Elrod said.

The initial round of voting garnered over 2,400 votes from students, and the second week saw just under 1,900 votes.

“We are seeing a lot of success … we're very excited about the response that we're getting and the information that it’s telling us,” Elrod said.

The restaurant just completed its second week of operation as Tavolino, an Italian-themed menu specializing in pasta dishes. Students chose a ramen bar as the next concept, which will take over after Feb. 9.